1.6 - Point of Entry

Dark and brooding with tons of macabre detail and tense atmosphere, very dialogue driven and prone to over describing at times, but there are some great characters in this. Also, the idea of Kit Marlowe taking inspiration from this for his play, 'Doctor Faustus' whilst helping an alien invasion is fantastic. Kit Marlowe is depicted as headstrong, egotistical and obsessed. A real anti-hero, who has entered into a pact with the walking corpse, and emissary of the Omnim: Velez. Once again, Peri is reduced to a plot device but when the plot is this good it's hard to complain. The intermittent screeching sound that permeates this is delicious. This story gives us a chance to see SF and black magic mixed together in a way we haven't seen since the Daemons and set in a gritty, rat-infested Elizabethan setting. This could really excel with some visual representation and I would love to see this animated but the pace is glacial at times and it has a resolution that goes BOOM! My point being that the resolution is too simplistic. Yes, it's dreadfully slow but enjoyable none the less.

Point of Entry shouldn't drag - but it does. It shouldn't drop you out of following the story - but it does.

I think part of the problem is not the Elizabethan setting - which is excellent, or the lead performances - which are solid, but rather that the pacing is off. It drags due to slowness and the drama really needs some punchy dialogue and quick delivery, but somehow it grinds to a halt during the Walsingham encounter and loses consciousness completely shortly after.

It doesn't help that a scene with a rack is treated by the Doctor as "ho hum yawn" instead of loosing a blood curdling scream or even a trademark grunt of effort. Just - yawn. If he isn't scared or excited, why should we be?

Great ideas, poor ball handling skills.

This psuedo-historical explores playwrite and spy Kit Marlowe's dealing with the dark side and the occult. This story definitely leans strongly towards horror and there are a few dark scenes that lean towards being unpleasant, such as when Peri is abandoned by Marlowe.

The story has some eerie and creepy moments, but there are a few nice moments of comedy worked in. (The Doctor as "The Queen's" (i.e. Peri's wigbearer was hilarious.) Luis Soto is superb as the sinister Velez, while the rest of the guest cast performs well-enough.

I did think that they story was a bit padded and crawled in some places. For much of the story, the Doctor is left with not a lot to do. Still, it's an interesting and mostly engaging listen.

I didnt think much of this. It starts of quite strange and bizarre - and incredibly slow! - and then turns into a Blackadder style romp (but without the humour). Incredibly overlong and seems confused about what it wants to be - or tell. I am glad this didnt make it to screen!